Why You Should Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Some Awesome Uses

Why You Should Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Some Awesome Uses

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I already wrote about the strengths of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, but I wanted to highlight some of the great uses I’ve gotten out of the card, and other uses friends and clients have gotten out of the card.

There are four transferable point currencies available to consumers:

American Express Membership Rewards

Starwood Preferred Guest Points

Citi ThankYou Points

Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Earning Structure and Sign Up Bonus

The earning structure on this card is solid, but it’s not the best card for daily use. Sure, 2X on Dining and Transportation are useful, but there are other cards with other transferable point currencies which earn 3X on those categories.

What it’s really great for is the sign-up bonus. Let me recap:

Spend $4,000 in three months and earn 50,000 bonus points;

Add an authorized user and after one purchase (of any amount) on that card, and earn an additional 5,000 points.

After the base spend ($4,000) plus the sign-up and authorized user, you’re looking at 59,000 points. Now if you and your domestic partner/spouse were to get this card, you could both earn the same bonus and share the points between you two, which would give you 118,000 points.

I’ve redeemed my Ultimate Rewards for…

4 Nights at the Hyatt’s Andaz Maui, 25,000 per night:

View form the rooms at the Andaz, Maui

Coupled with the companion pass, many roundtrips between New York’s LaGuardia and Chicago-Midway Airport;

Short hauls between New York and D.C., New York and Chicago, New York and St. Louis by transferring points to British Airways.

Ponts + Cash bookings at Hyatt

What can 59,000 or 118,000 Ultimate Rewards points get you?

Two roundtrip coach tickets to Europe by transferring points to United with a stopover for as long as you want = 120,000 points;

Two one-way business class tickets on United metal to/from Europe = 115,000 points;

Two round-trips form U.S. to Hawaii by transferring points to Korean air, on Delta metal = 50,000 points;

The bolded partners are where you’ll get the best value for your points. I would rarely ever transfer to Marriot, IHG, or Ritz-Carlton.

Other Important Card Benefit

The Sapphire Preferred also offers one great benefit which I’ve taken advantage of, and many frequent travelers do, too:

Primary Auto Rental Collision Coverage–Be sure to pay for your car rental when you travel with this card and waive the auto collision coverage the rental companies will try to sell you. This card will cover it.

With transferable point currencies, possibilities are pretty much endless. Click here to apply and start getting on your way today.